Valparaiso won seven events on Saturday afternoon in the
Crusaders’ home finale, but came up nine points shy against Western Illinois as
the Leathernecks defeated the Brown and Gold 116-107 at the Athletics-RecreationCenter
pool.

Austin Hunter
(La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent H.S.)
and David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart
H.S.) each won two individual events and added a victory in the 200 freestyle
relay. Blake Edwards (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange
County) and Kevin Fedde (Fort Collins,
Colo./Heritage Christian H.S.)
added event wins themselves for the Crusaders while also joining Hunter and
Sivak on the victorious relay.

Hunter earned victories in
both the 50 free and 100 fly. His first
win of the day, in the 50 free, was by 0.57 seconds with a time of 22.62
seconds. He then turned in a time of
53.98 seconds in the 100 fly, winning by 0.62 seconds.

Sivak posted the third fasted
400 individual medley time in Valpo history, 4:12.28, while cruising to a 24 second
victory. The junior also posted his best
time of the season, 55.57 seconds, in the 100 back, winning by more than a
second-and-a-half.

Edwards, the lone senior
honored on Senior Day at Valpo, picked up the Crusaders’ first win of the day
in the 200 free, a 1.45 second triumph with a time of 1:47.89. He also added a runner-up finish in the 100
free with a time of 49.19 seconds, just 0.14 seconds off of the pace.

Fedde was a winner in the 500
free, turning in a time of 4:57.87, a win of more than 13 seconds. The freshman also turned in the fifth fastest
mark in school history in the 1000 free, 10:15.37, finishing runner-up.

Sivak, Edwards, Hunter, and
Fedde closed the meet with a 1.44 second win in the 200 free relay with a time
of 1:27.87, a top time for the Crusaders this year.

Trevor Trimpe
(New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.) added a second place
finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.34.
He also finished second in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in
1:02.45.

Valparaiso (0-8) will have two-and-a-half weeks off before
competing in the Horizon League Championships hosted by UIC in Chicago, Ill.
beginning February 24 and running through February 27. The first day’s events begin at 2 p.m.